If I Knew You Better Brendan Davis

Saturday Night Fever. Dracula. War Games. Director JOHN BADHAM made those classic films and many more. He honed his craft doing years of TV, then Saturday Night Fever launched him into the stratosphere. We also discuss how Gregory Peck helped him get his first job in Hollywood, his big break as a TV director, how he made his way into features, his take on the auteur theory, how feature directors can move into TV and survive, and his experiences as an author and educator. Don't miss!

DENISE CARLSON is a very savvy film and TV producer whose war stories are shared here with insight, candor, and loads of sometimes salty humor. She’s also an old friend, and it was a real treat to get into the weeds of things with her. We discuss her beginnings at the William Morris Agency, her tenure at Disney TV (where she discovered “High School Musical”), and what a rude awakening it was to become an independent producer. We also get into her animal rescue work and many other things too. Enjoy!

ERIC ADAM CONNER is a screenwriter, director, actor and theater kid. A childhood in Delaware led to undergrad at Penn, stints in NYC, New Hampshire summer stock, and off-Broadway theater, and finally grad school at USC. We talk candidly about many topics that creative entrepreneurs especially will find relevant, relatable, or just fun, including his early brush with fame on the Howard Stern Show, having Beetlejuice as a guest at his bachelor party, and more. Great talk!

MAX BARTOLI has received worldwide acclaim for his creative work, including a Papal Blessing from Pope Benedictus. He's also Media Director for the World Bank, and helped produce the unprecedented Fiat Lux show, projection mapped onto St. Peter’s Basilica as a giant canvas. Max is also building a brand-new team sport called FXC: the Fireball Extreme Challenge, which has been gaining steady grassroots popularity in many countries and which has its sights set on nothing less than becoming a new world sport.

“Understand WHY you’re doing WHAT you’re doing”. Consciously directing our choices applies in most areas of our lives, and today I talk with filmmaker, professor, and author JACQUELINE FROST about this concept in terms of making aesthetic choices in cinematography and directing. But her interviews with legendary ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) members and top directors and producers inform her wider perspective in ways that I think everyone can relate to.

Multinational branding. Creating tangible, transformative results through trust and understanding others needs. Gumpian journeys and near-death experiences as deep-game changers. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and harnessing the energy of facing your fears. The importance of contingencies, and how if you think you’re still in the same business today that you were two months ago, you’re likely in trouble. Veteran music businessman JOSH LEVINE of the “Rebel Radio” podcast and I get into all of this and